Improvement in trunks



5 UNITED STATE PATENT QFFIGE.

JAMES A. HOUSE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN TRUNKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 171,618, dated December '28, 1875 application filed October 30, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. HOUSE, of Bridgeport, in the county of Fair-field and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trunk-Lid Stays and Braces, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to trunk-stays, of the class in which the stay is secured upon the outside of the trunk, at one end to the lid, and at the other end to the body of the trunk.

My objects are so to construct the stays that they may readily be applied to trunks without fitting or alteration of the trunk; to strengthen or brace the hinges between the trunk body and lid; and to hold the lid in place in event of the breaking of the hinges.

The subject-matter claimed will hereinafter specifically be designated.

' In the accompanying drawings, in which my improved stay and brace are shown as applied directly to a trunk, as well as to a hinge connecting the trunk and lid, Figure 1 is a view in perspective, with the trunk-lid closed. Fig. 2 is an end elevation, with the trunk and lid partially broken away, showing the stay and hinge formed together, the dotted lines representing the lid as raised and Fig. 3, a similar view, showing the stay attached directly to the trunk.

llhe stay, when adapted to be attached directly to the trunk, is composed of a bar formed in two sections or parts, A A, united by a joint or hinge, B, near one end of the stay, so that it may flex freely in one direction, and provided at either end with a hinge, O C, respectively attached by screws to the rear of the body D of the trunk and to the back of the lid D, as shown. Instead of attaching the stay directly to the trunk, it may be secured upon or form part of the hinge which connects the top and body of the trunk, the stay, in such case, being formed, as before described, with a joint, 1), near one end, and pivoted to the trunk-hinge E at its ends, above and below the joint, between the lid and trunk, as shown. When the stays or braces are secured upon the trunk, I prefer to employ two of them upon each trunk, placed between and one near to each of the hinges, between the top and body, although one stay centrally located between the trunk-hinges would answer,

and, when attached to the hinge of the trunklid, a stay should be used upon each hinge.

, From the foregoing description, and by the dotted lines, Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seen that as the lid is raised the braces flex, their sections swinging outward, and when the lid is opened slightly beyond a perpendicular position, the short section A of the brace, having turned part way round, folds up toward or against the lid, or against the body, according to whether the joint in the stay is nearest the top or body of the trunk, and when the lid is closed the brace lengthens out, as shown, becoming nearly straight, and lies close to the back of the trunk and lid. When attached to the hinge, the brace swings toward and from it in like manner.

A bracing-stay constructed as herein described can readily be applied, by its hinges, to any trunk 'of ordinary construction, without trouble of fitting, or in any manner altering the trunk.

In event of the hinges connecting the trunk top and body being broken or weakened, the stays serve both as hinges to swing the top upon, and as braces to prevent accidental separation of the top from the trunk in the line of its hinges.

Obviously, joints and hinges of any suitable construction may be substituted for those above described, all that is necessary to carry out my invention being that thestay shall have a joint between a long and short section composing it, and a hinge at either end, to

secure it in place upon the back of the trunk body and lid, with the long section crossing or lapping the joint between the lid and body of the trunk.

I prefer to construct the trunk-hinge E with ends 0 6, provided with screw-holes to attach them to the trunk and lid, as shown, to give additional strength, the hinge-being, by this construction, secured in place by fastenings on both sides of the stay-pivots, and thus prevented from being worked loose by the strain of the stay.

I have also contemplated, as a modification of my invention, forming recesses in the back of the lid and body of the trunk, or in the hinges, so that when closed the stays shall lie flush with the surface of the trunk or hinge, "to protect thestays from injury, or the same result might be secured byproviding guard ribs or flanges on the body and lid of the trunk, or on thehinge on each side of the:

i stay.

for the purpose described.

3. The combination of the trunk-body, its

hinged lid, audthe jointedlhinged staypcomposed of sections 'of different lengths,1these members being constructed and adapted to hold the lid in position, substantially as set forth. 5

4. The :combination'ofvaa trunk-body and its lid or cover with the hinge, provided with the pivoted back-stay, substantially as and In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JLXMES A. *HoUsE.

Witnesses GEORGE H. DrMonD, B10111). H. .PADDON. 

